


As luck may have it

by himarisu



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Cats, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 13:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16242596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/himarisu/pseuds/himarisu
Summary: Minhyun doesn't like cats, but he can't really complain when it's the reason he gets to see his handsome neighbour all the time.





	As luck may have it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foxseal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxseal/gifts).



> R, I will never not find it funny how hard and fast you fell for o/h tbh... Big ♡♡♡ for indulging in my crackheadedness, rationalising my questionable purchases, and always being there for me and my repetitive petty rants. And maybe I should say this more often, but I... I l-love y—
> 
> I might be dying because of how late I stayed up to finish this.

  
  


Minhyun doesn't have the best impression of cats.

When he was five, his friends thought it would be funny to release the neighbourhood cat from its cage after having dusted catnip powder all over Minhyun, which ended up in a three-hour chase all over town on the cat's part, and a traumatising childhood memory on Minhyun's.

Ever since then, throughout his middle school, high school, university days, Minhyun has tried his best to stay away from cats in every way, shape, or form—even going so far as to cut ties off with people after they had compared him to the animal, only because he genuinely felt uncomfortable about having been associated with them.

So Minhyun can't exactly say he feels enthusiastic when his childhood friend, Daniel, asks him to take care of his kitten while he's off on a two-week food tour around Asia with his boyfriend.

He couldn't say no—not when Daniel looked so upset about having to part with Ori so soon after he and Jihoon adopted her, and especially not when Minhyun felt like he owed Daniel for helping him take almost all of the alcohol the seniors were pouring for him at the company dinner (even if Daniel did look happy about having more to drink for himself).

Minhyun sighs as he looks down at the kitten at his feet, biting its own tail in a frenzy.

He's just glad that Ori isn't a cat _yet_ , and so is still small and not as terrifyingly intimidating as she will probably end up being in the near future. That being said, not being a cat yet means Ori is also at the age where she's incredibly playful, so after Daniel drops her off at Minhyun's apartment (very reluctantly), not even an entire day passes before his sofas and carpets feel the wrath of her tiny but lethal nails.

When Minhyun feels sharp pricks on his leg all of a sudden, he lets out a yelp, looking down once again to see Ori using her claws to climb up his sweatpants. She almost reaches his hip when Minhyun picks her up gently and looks into her big, sparkly eyes with a glare—not that she understands anyway—and puts her down on the floor with a plop.

Minhyun sighs again. He can only hope that the next two weeks pass by quickly.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Saturday afternoons are for Minhyun to spend relaxing on his lounge chair on the balcony, reading literature while basking in the sun, and so that's exactly what he does—only today there's a nagging thought in the back of his head that prevents him from properly contemplating what he's reading: _why does Ori's food bowl look like it's been untouched for a while now?_

Minhyun places a bookmark on the page with an impatient exhale and is about to head indoors to look for her when he hears a high-pitched meow to his left. Ready to scold her for not eating her meal on time, he turns around on his heel with a glare, but that quickly turns into cold dread when he realises where Ori is.

She's not on his balcony. She's on the one next to his.

Standing very, very dangerously at the edge of the it.

"Ori—" Minhyun starts but clamps his own mouth shut with a hand once he sees how the kitten startles at his voice and almost slips off the balcony.

Mind going completely blank, Minhyun just stares at her in panic until he snaps out of it and starts to evaluate all the choices he has to get her back, safely, before anything happens to her, and then more importantly before anything happens to _him_ once Daniel finds out what's happened to Ori.

The food bowl isn't going to work, since she looks a lot more interested in the green trees down below than the brown mush up here; catnip is out of the question since Minhyun doesn't feel like reliving any of his childhood nightmares; so the only obvious choice left is to knock on his neighbour's door to collect her, which he would totally do but really can't when she looks like she's about to jump off and _shit_ —

Before Minhyun realises it, he's scrambling onto the railing, the rush of adrenaline helping him forget how high up he is as he climbs onto his neighbour's—until he gets a glimpse of the long, long fall down below—and then suddenly he's slipping off the metal pole, falling and stumbling onto the ground with a loud, hard thud.

After what feels like forever, Minhyun hears a muffled rattle of a glass door sliding open, and he must be out of it because he's wondering why there'd be glass doors in heaven (or maybe even hell, though he'd like to think he lived a righteous life back on Earth), but then he hears someone's voice, loud and clear:

"...I didn't know the weather forecast for today was sunny with a chance of beautiful men."

Minhyun squints up from his position on the floor, the sun blinding him for an instant before he lays his eyes on the stranger, and freezes. He is certainly not dead right now.

"Hey, you okay?" the man asks as he crouches down. "Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

It takes Minhyun another moment to realise he needs to say something before he gets sent off to a hospital for nothing. "No, no. I'm fine," he says, yet still winces at the dull pain he feels on his hands when he tries to sit up.

Looking up once again, Minhyun sees the familiar brown and grey fur sidling up against his neighbour's shin, purring—as if she hadn't just made Minhyun risk his life to save hers only moments before—and then the feeling of irritation towards the cat comes crashing back down into him. So much so that he even feels something akin to betrayal when his neighbour smiles at Ori and strokes her head softly.

He raises an eyebrow at Minhyun, shifting his eyes between Ori and him as if asking if she's the reason why he's sitting on his balcony right now with scraped hands and knees. Minhyun gives him a strained smile.

"I'm very, very sorry about this—for trespassing your property and disturbing you on a weekend like this."

"Nah, it's okay. I totally get it—pets are precious to their owners," his neighbour says, moving his hand to the underside of Ori's jaw. "You must really love your cat, huh?"

Minhyun almost gags at that. "Um. No, I actually really don't. And she's—"

"You don't?" He pulls a face, seemingly offended, and then frowns. "I'm not one to tell people what to do, but if you're going to own a pet then you should at least be committed to giving them all the love and care they deserve."

"You're misunderstanding me," Minhyun deadpans, feeling a headache come on. And it's not because of the fall earlier. "She's not _mine_ , she's a friend's."

"Oh." His neighbour pauses then looks him up and down. "Why go through all the trouble then? You could've just knocked on my door and asked for her back."

"She was going to _fall_ ," Minhyun says, exasperatedly, now wanting to just go home and take a long, hot bath because of how tired he suddenly feels. "And I don't know what would have happened to me either, since I was trusted with her."

"Oh," the neighbour says again. "Scary friend?"

"No, scary _friend's boyfriend_."

His neighbour nods as if in understanding, and then removes his hand from Ori, placing it in front of Minhyun instead. "Seongwu."

Minhyun stares at him. "Sorry?"

"My name." He raises a brow, the corner of his lip raised in a smirk. "It's Seongwu."

Minhyun takes his hand and shakes it. It's warm, the nice kind of warm that makes you feel at ease, though he doesn't know if it's because he had been petting Ori moments prior.

"Minhyun. It's nice to meet you, Seongwu." Minhyun is the first to let go. "Anyway, I really don't want to impose on you any further so..."

"You weren't imposing at all! It's been a while since anything interesting happened in my life, so your entrance was very welcome," says Seongwu, getting up and flashing a grin at him.

Minhyun takes Ori from his hands and tilts his head slightly. _In what world would a stranger falling onto your balcony be considered a welcome entrance?_ is what he thinks, but he keeps his lips pursed as he wishes Seongwu a good day, trying not to be obvious when he peers at the picture frames and camera equipment littered around his unit as Minhyun leaves his apartment.

As soon as Seongwu closes his door shut, Minhyun releases a long exhale, looking at Ori peer up at him innocently in his arms. Though at first he thought he'd be fuming for having to go through all that trouble to retrieve her, Minhyun finds himself more tired than anything after the added unexpected neighbour introduction, and has no more energy to spend to glare at the cat.

All he wants to do now is to go home, and he's _almost_ there, because he reaches for the doorknob and twists it.

It doesn't turn.

_Shit_. It's locked from the inside.

Two seconds later, Minhyun is ringing Seongwu's doorbell.

"Lost your friend's cat again already?" asks Seongwu as soon as he opens the door and sees it's Minhyun.

Gesturing to Ori in his arms pointedly, Minhyun explains, "My door is locked. Sorry, but I'm going to have to go back through your balcony again..."

He's speed-walking through Seongwu's unit for the second time in five minutes, and this time he tries to get a good look at what are in the frames just because he's nosey—and when he does, he finds himself momentarily mesmerised by the photos.

Though they're all of rivers, streets, and caves at all times of the day, none of them have the same feeling, and none of them feel ordinary with how soft the colours are on the eyes and how otherworldly they are with the void of any human being in _any_ of them. Minhyun would undoubtedly find the scenery beautiful if he sees them in person, but after seeing these photographs, he somehow feels like he'd end up finding them nothing special.

"Honestly, I don't even know how you got here."

Minhyun snaps back to reality, turning his head to Seongwu. "What?"

Seongwu gestures to the other balcony. "Look at that gap! Holy shit, you could have fallen, Minhyun."

Minhyun doesn't know why his heart skips a beat when he calls his name. It might be because he calls it with a familiarity like they've known each other for a while now.

"We can make a ladder out of your tripods," he suggests, still thinking of the photographs he saw back there.

" _What?_ " Seongwu almost shrieks. "Do you even know how much they cost?"

"It was only a suggestion!" defends Minhyun, suddenly feeling conscious of his mortified expression. "I did it once already so I'm sure I'll be okay. Can you hold Ori for a bit?"

Seongwu obliges and Minhyun makes to climb the railing to get to his balcony, but it becomes a little bit more difficult and has him a little more nervous for his life when there's someone behind him looking on like he's about to go on a journey he'll never come back from.

"Do you mind turning around while I do this? It's kind of hard when you're staring at me like that."

"What if you fall while I'm not watching?" Ori mewls and Minhyun assumes Seongwu has tightened his hold around her. "Listen, Minhyun, maybe we should just go to the management office and ask for a replacement key. I mean, it's a whole lot better than you—"

He's on the other side before Seongwu can finish his sentence.

"See?" says Minhyun, hoping his feigned nonchalance isn't obvious and his ass wasn't all up in Seongwu's face during the climb. "I told you I'd be okay."

Seongwu blinks at him. "Alright then, Peter Parker. Here's your... I mean _your_ _friend's_ cat," and Minhyun feels a tingle run through him when their fingers touch. "Make sure to take good care of her, otherwise I'm going to have to call Animal Protection Services on you."

"I've already risked my life for Ori—I'm not exactly sure how much further you want me to go to prove that I'm not mistreating her," Minhyun hums.

Seongwu gives him a look. "I was only joking."

Minhyun deadpans, "So was I."

"Oh. Right. It didn't seem like that to me..." mumbles Seongwu, and Minhyun is quite enjoying the sight of him looking flustered. "I'm going to head in now, then. What about you, Minhyun?"

Minhyun stares at him for a bit, trying not to think of how that's the _third_ time he's called his name like that.

The book he was enjoying earlier is still sitting neatly on the cushion, his bookmark sticking out like it's inviting him to continue reading it, but he realises that he doesn't feel like knowing more about Nietzsche's views on nihilism or perspectivism anymore. He'd now rather spend time on his balcony getting to know more about his neighbour—why he's so tolerant about a complete stranger crashing into his balcony; if he's the one who took the photos in his unit; how it is he's already calling Minhyun's name like Minhyun wants to hear it a hundred times over—and that's when he knows he's in trouble.

"I'm heading in for now, too." There's a small smile on Minhyun's face and one foot's already on the wooden flooring. "I have to feed Ori."

There's that, and there's also how he's a bit afraid of how he might want to keep talking to Seongwu even though he's just met him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Of course, out of all the days Minhyun chooses to buy a 10kg pack of cat litter, it has to be the day when the apartment elevators stop operating. They were working fine when he left that morning to the local supermarket, but this just _has_ to be another case of cats giving him bad luck. Or so Minhyun likes to think—he ignores the fact that he's carrying a ton of other groceries.

He's halfway up to his floor—the eighth floor, thank god, because the building goes up to twenty-six—when his knees start to feel weak and his hands start to lose all the blood in them from the tightness of the plastic bags. Dropping them down on the floor with an ungraceful grunt, Minhyun slides his back down the wall, closing his eyes to try and catch a breath before he loses consciousness in the stairwell and gets reported as a missing person.

Who would realise he was gone though? Certainly not Daniel, since he's still gone for another ten days or so. Neither will his officemates: Minhyun did let them know he'll be working shorter hours at the office to take care of Ori and it's not that unusual for him to be working from home in the first place anyway.

The only person left Minhyun can think of is his neighbour, maybe, if Ori decides to pull another stunt and invade his balcony again to leave Seongwu wondering why Minhyun isn't picking her up from his place already.

Or maybe that's just Minhyun's imagination running wild.

"Hey, there."

Minhyun opens his eyes with a startle, vision still slightly blurred by his light nap until a familiarly handsome face comes into focus. He swallows.

"Hello, Seongwu."

Seongwu smiles at him and looks at the pile of plastic bags sitting around his periphery, having Minhyun going red from embarrassment.

"Not exactly the best place to take a nap, I think. As with my balcony two days ago."

"I know," says Minhyun, feeling his vision go blurry again because of how quickly he stands up. "I wasn't counting on the elevator failing on me when I got back."

Laughing, Seongwu gets up as well and helps pat the dirt off Minhyun's jeans. "Bet you weren't counting on me finding you passed out on the stairs either, but I guess it's your lucky day. I'll help you out," he says, picking up some of the bags.

The rest of the stairs become a lot easier to tread now that half of Minhyun's load has been passed onto Seongwu, but that doesn't mean it's any faster—Minhyun still has to check over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure Seongwu is keeping up with him and doesn't also end up blacking out in exhaustion.

"Holy crap, this cat litter is _heavy_ ," pants Seongwu, wavering a little in his steps once they get to Minhyun's doorstep. "I get why you got lost consciousness back there. How did you even manage to go up four flights by yourself with all of this?"

"I was _resting_ ," Minhyun corrects him. He fishes his keys out from his pocket, smiling to himself because of the compliment. "And I've been going to the gym recently."

"Huh," marvels Seongwu, following him into his apartment and dropping off the bags at the entranceway. "With a face like yours, I wouldn't have expected it."

Minhyun grins even further, feeling a newfound sense of bravery bubbling up in the pit of his stomach. "Well, with a face like _yours_ , I was quite surprised to see all the heaving and panting."

Raising an eyebrow, almost as if he were surprised by Minhyun returning a quip, Seongwu shrugs his shoulders. "You can thank your heavy-ass cat litter for the sight."

Minhyun ponders on that as he waves his neighbour a friendly goodbye and a promise to see each other around. Eventually, he decides he thinks he will.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Minhyun? What's up?"

"I lost Ori," Minhyun says, taking in the sight of Seongwu leaning against the doorframe in striped pyjamas when it's long after lunchtime. "And before you say it, yes, _again_."

He smirks at him, teeth showing a little. "Come on in, then. She really seems to like my balcony a lot, huh?"

"Well, actually..." Minhyun raises his voice after Seongwu almost disappears into his apartment. "I didn't see her on your balcony. Your door was open so I thought she might've slipped in."

It had been another case of finding Ori's food bowl still full after Minhyun came out of the shower, and his first instinct had been to check outside to find traces of the cat. Though she wasn't on either one of their balconies, thankfully he saw the gap on Seongwu's side before he could keep extrapolating from the worst-case scenario he came up with in his head.

Seongwu hums, a contemplative finger on his chin. "I haven't seen her, but maybe I'm just blind... We can try finding her together?"

Slipping out of his shoes and onto the cool surface of the tiles, Minhyun notices that there seem to be a lot more boxes than the last time he was here. He peeps into an open one, seeing thick bubble wrap packaged around what looks to be a photo frame.

"I'm sending those out tomorrow—they're commissions," explains Seongwu, startling Minhyun and causing him to almost drop another box on a stool nearby. "Sorry for the mess."

"It's fine, I've seen worse," mutters Minhyun, shuddering at the thought of Daniel and Jihoon's shared apartment, but that doesn't stop him from feeling the itch to start cleaning everything up anyway.

"Ori!" calls out Seongwu. "Where are you?"

The unit is small, so it shouldn't take long for them to go through every inch of it in search of Ori. Although Minhyun is reluctant to enter anywhere other than his living room at first, Seongwu shrugs his shoulders and tells him there's nothing he has to feel wary about since he's not a serial killer, so eventually, he relents.

"Isn't that what serial killers say to their victims before they kill them?" asks Minhyun, getting on his hands and knees to look under Seongwu's bed.

"Nope." Seongwu gets on his tiptoes to check the top of his shelves, filled to the brim with what looks to be portfolios and camera lenses. "They don't say anything because they'd have already killed them by then."

Chuckling, Minhyun gets up and dusts his knees. He turns his head towards Seongwu, only to have his eye caught by the photo frame hanging above the bed.

In the middle of the thick white border is a picture of the night sky; with millions of stars of different intensities across the smear of midnight blue and brown, dark mountains sliding in below them, and then there's a mirror image of the stars further down on the still lake. Minhyun admires the colours and composition of the photograph a little longer, and then he's feeling the same ethereal sensation he felt when he first saw the other pictures in Seongwu's living room.

"Were you the one who took that?"

"Huh?" Seongwu follows his gaze. "Oh, that? Yeah, that was me, when I went to Banff. Beautiful place, by the way—"

"You know, Seongwu, you may not be a serial killer," Minhyun breathes, and he has to force himself to tear his eyes away to address him, "but you certainly feel like a magician."

Seongwu blinks at him, face visibly turning red. "Wow, uh, thank you. That's really nice of you to say that."

Nodding, Minhyun turns his head back to the picture, wondering if he should commission him for one too.

Seongwu steps next to him, hands clasped. "That's actually the picture I'm most proud of taking," he opens up. "I spent forever figuring out where all the stars were to make sure their positions were _perfect_ , and then I also stayed up all night to make sure I captured the perfect picture. It was the most fun I've ever had in my life."

Minhyun turns to him, smiling. "That sounds amazing. You should be proud of it—it's stunning."

Seongwu returns the smile, then looks down at his feet, mumbling, "Yeah, I wish I could feel the same way about everything I take but, well." He swivels around, making for the door. "Looks like she isn't in here either, let's go elsewhere."

Minhyun tries to keep a positive outlook on the situation, but when they go through Seongwu's bathroom, den, storage room, and kitchen with no cat in sight, panic starts to settle in him. And by the time they're in the living room again with nowhere else to search in the apartment, he's outright struggling _not_ to be convinced that the worst-case scenario has already happened to Ori.

"She might've gone back to the balcony again—"

But she isn't there either. At this point, Minhyun is shaking as he's peering over the railing, hoping but also not hoping that he might see her _somewhere_ down there.

"Hey, _stop_." His shoulder gets pulled back by Seongwu when he's leaning too far down. "She did _not_ jump down. Cats are smart animals and they know which heights are safe enough."

"But what if she really did..." Minhyun trails off, eyes unfocused as unpleasant images of Ori flash through his mind. "I'm literally worst friend ever. Jihoon would kill me and I would actually let him do that."

"Friend? Or friend's boyfriend?"

"The latter."

Seongwu hums, looking down at the trees now too. "Well if he does show up at your house with an axe or something, you can blame it on me instead."

"And say what, exactly?" _That your handsome face distracted me?_ Minhyun wants to bite back, but that isn't really an insult that would hurt.

"Hm, good point." Seongwu closes his eyes in deep thought. "That a magician spirited her away?"

"What—"

"All the way to Banff. Where the air is clean and the stars are infinite."

Minhyun stares at him, incredulous, and then releases an exhale when the serious expression stays on Seongwu's face. "And then where? To the streets of Melbourne where the lights are shining and the lakes are still?"

"Yeah!" Seongwu nods enthusiastically. "She's on an adventure with me."

"Temporarily."

"Temporarily," he repeats. "And I'll give her back. Eventually."

"I don't think Daniel will like that, but... I guess that'll work. Not much for my own conscience, though."

Looking into Seongwu's eyes, Minhyun finds it funny how fast he calms down, like a spell has been cast on him by the most powerful sorcerer on land. Except there's no sorcerer and it's not a spell, but rather, it's just his neighbour Seongwu with an affinity for taking photos and his magical words that Minhyun wouldn't mind listening to all the time.

"Seongwu, you're—"

Minhyun gets broken off when he hears a cat meow that has him swivelling his head around towards the source in an instant. Tears well up in his eyes the instant he recognises who it is.

"Would you look at that," whistles Seongwu. "Ori, on your balcony."

The immense relief Minhyun feels is immediately replaced with confusion, and then guilt. "Wait, I swear I checked my apart—"

He stops, backtracks, and then realises he actually _didn't_. He just went straight to his balcony, saw that Seongwu's sliding door was open and assumed that Ori was somewhere in there. _Holy shit_.

"I'm so sorry," Minhyun says quickly. "I should've checked my place more thoroughly before I bothered you about this."

"It's _fine_. You weren't bothering me." Seongwu leans against the railing, smiling as he watches Ori lick her paw innocently. "I had fun."

Minhyun shakes his head, feeling dizzy because of how stupid he is. "You're too nice for your own good."

"And you're fun to talk to, Minhyun."

That makes him feel better, a little.

But he still can't stop thinking about how his subconscious told him to go straight to Seongwu's apartment without checking his own first, even though he knows how methodical he himself is a person. And from that, he's beginning to think that maybe he was secretly hoping she'd be there, only because of the person standing in front of him, grinning obliviously.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"I'm glad your trip is going well," says Minhyun, staring at Ori biting him as he pets her head with a finger. "I know you've been wanting to go on vacation with Jihoon for a while."

The sound of a chair creaking is clear in his earphones as Minhyun turns to his phone screen to see Daniel pouting. "I _know_. I thought I was going to die because of all the work I had to get done right before our trip."

"But that's how you know you care for someone, right? You do the things you usually wouldn't do otherwise to spend more time with them," says Minhyun, staring at Ori biting his finger. He pauses, the words spilling out of his mouth before he realises it, "Out of curiosity, what made you realise you liked Jihoon?"

Daniel looks at him. "That was years ago, hyung. Why do you want to know now of all times?"

"Well. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Minhyun shrugs.

"I'll tell you," says Daniel, almost immediately, and Minhyun smiles to himself because he knows the younger man will never _not_ take up a chance to gush about his boyfriend.

"Well, for starters." Daniel scrunches his nose, visibly biting the inside of his cheek to try and keep a neutral face. "I found him really cute."

_Cute, huh,_ Minhyun thinks, a certain neighbour's smiley face suddenly popping up in his mind, along with the thought of wanting to pinch the same man's cheeks. _Is that considered as finding him cute?_

"And I never really used to like games?" continues Daniel, scratching the back of his head. "But ever since I knew Jihoon was obsessed with them, I found myself playing a lot more often."

Minhyun's eyes wander to his window, where there are streaks of baby pink clouds and the sky is turning a beautiful ambery shade as the sun is setting. His ancient point-and-shoot is somewhere in his boxes, and he's feeling the extreme urge to pull it out and take pictures of the view.

"Before I knew it, I just wanted to see and talk to and be with him all the time. In fact, I still feel that way even now, even though we're spending so much time together already." Daniel looks down and smiles shyly, putting his hands on his cheeks. "Ah, hyung, what should I do? I really do like Jihoon a lot."

"Yeah, yeah. That's great," Minhyun says blankly, no longer paying attention to what Daniel is saying anymore. "Anyway, thanks. I'll talk to you later. Enjoy the rest of your trip!"

"Huh? Wait, hyu—"

Minhyun prematurely ends the call, dropping the phone to his side with a thump. Looking up at the ceiling with a warm ball of fur in his hand and Daniel's words swirling around in his head, Minhyun is now thinking, _damn_ does he want to see and talk to his funny, charming, and attractive neighbour Seongwu.

He rolls over, tucking Ori under his chin and releasing a wistful sigh.

And damn if he doesn't already have a big, fat crush on him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It takes a while for Minhyun to start acting on what he wants.

At one point, he considers taking Ori on a walk and asking Seongwu if he wants to come with since she seems to be the consistent common factor in their interactions, but it proves to be difficult when he tries putting a leash on her and she somehow ends up slipping out of it every time, so he eventually decides that forcing it on her may not be the most pure-hearted way to find a reason to talk to his neighbour.

(And it's completely not because he has a soft spot for her now.)

But maybe Minhyun shouldn't need to have a reason in the first place. After all, isn't it completely normal to check in on the members in your community and greet them a small 'hello' or something? Granted, Minhyun wants to say a lot more than just a simple greeting to Seongwu, but all conversations have to start somewhere.

Standing in front of Seongwu's unit, Minhyun raises a hand to press the doorbell before he sees someone out of the corner of his eye.

"Seongwu?" Surprise is evident from his voice, and Minhyun only hopes that Seongwu wasn't there long enough to witness his mulling over in front of his door.

"Minhyun!" he beams, jogging over to him with a cup holder of two in his hands. "What are you doing in front of my door? Lost Ori again?"

"No. Why are you always assuming I've lost her?" Minhyun grins without realising it but winces immediately once he sees some liquid begin to slosh out of the cup lids as Seongwu approaches him. "Careful with that."

"Oh, right," says Seongwu, slowing down and checking his feet to see if anything got on the floor. After making sure the floor is spotless, he takes one of the drinks and extends it out to Minhyun. "Here."

"Me?" asks Minhyun, taking it from Seongwu.

"Yeah, I got it for you! I was actually thinking of visiting, but looks like you were thinking the same?" Seongwu laughs, eyes shining. "I didn't know what kind of drink you'd like, so I kinda just guessed it though..."

Feeling his heart speeding up in glee, Minhyun eyes the hot cup in his hands and, taking note of the distinct purple logo on it, suddenly remembers that the brand is of some high-end coffee shop he'd heard his coworkers rave about one lunch break for their dark roasts. He clears his throat, awkwardly.

"I don't drink coffee, actually..." When Seongwu's face falls, Minhyun quickly adds, "But maybe if I add enough sugar and milk I'll be able to drink it!"

"It's okay, it's fine," says Seongwu, head now hung low. "I'll just make sure to get something else for you next time."

Minhyun almost drops his coffee at that. _Next time?_ Shit. He really wants to pull him in for a hug right now.

"Why did you want to visit me in the first place?" asks Minhyun, a sliver of hope beginning to rise in his chest.

Seongwu pauses, and then begins fiddling with the edge of the cup holder, and it's not exactly helping with the situation in Minhyun's head right now. "Um, you might find me weird. Or maybe even creepy."

"I _won't_ ," insists Minhyun.

Minhyun is pretty sure it won't be anything _near_ as weird as him being passed out on his balcony or the stairs. In fact, he might even be poised to say it might even be a welcome kind of weird.

Raising his head, Seongwu opens his mouth several times, seemingly thinking of the right words to say as Minhyun bores his eyes into him. "I just wanted to see—" He pauses when his eyes meet Minhyun's, and after a few moments of them staring at each other, exhales sharply.

Minhyun holds his breath.

"I... I wanted to see… wanted to see how Ori is doing!" exclaims Seongwu, bright smile restored on his face.

Oh.

_Oh._

"Oh," Minhyun voices quietly, a little stunned, and tries to ignore how low his heart sinks. He blinks for several seconds straight as if to reorganise the jumbled thoughts in his head.

"Y-yeah," nods Seongwu.

"She's—" Minhyun looks down and licks his lips. He didn't even realise how dry they are. "She's at the vet," he lies, "some sort of a flu, or something."

Seongwu's face falls, but Minhyun's sure he's looking more devastated right now. "Oh. I hope she's okay."

Neither of them says anything else after that. The silence is cold and distant—nothing like the comfortable air around him that Minhyun has grown accustomed to ever since the first time Seongwu said that stupid pickup line to him that day on the balcony.

Minhyun doesn't know what he was expecting to come out of Seongwu's mouth. He scolds himself for thinking that Seongwu would want to see him for _him_ , would buy coffee for _him_ and not as a visiting gift for something else—and that at the end of the day, the only reason they've been seeing each other around in the first place is because of Ori.

He snaps out of his thoughts when Seongwu speaks up.

"Why did you want to visit me?"

Minhyun turns the cup around in his hands. "I wanted to ask if you would like to go to the park with me and Ori." He smiles at Seongwu, tight-lipped. "Well, when she gets better anyway."

"Yeah, sounds great to me," says Seongwu, reciprocating the smile. "I can take pictures of you two, too!"

Minhyun purses his lips. "Yeah, sounds great. I'll let you know then," he says as he turns around to go back home, feeling exhausted.

"Mhm. But you know, Minhyun, maybe we can actually—"

"I'll see you around!"

Minhyun shuts the door behind him before he can hear the rest of it.

Only when he finally hears the door adjacent to his close as well does Minhyun realise he still has Seongwu's cup of coffee, now lukewarm in his hands.

And even though he tells all his friends he hates coffee, he still drinks it all up until the last drop anyway, trying hard to focus on the bitter taste of the liquid instead of the equally bitter feeling in his heart.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The day Daniel and Jihoon come back from their trip couldn't have come any slower.

Minhyun has spent the rest of the several days leading up to their arrival holed up in his apartment for fear of seeing his neighbour—the neighbour who he so badly wants to see and talk to, but at the same time, who probably doesn't feel the same way as he does.

He busies himself with work, offering to help out with other coworkers' work if only to distract himself from thinking about that one neighbour with the stupidly cute smile and amazingly incredible photography skills, and spends his time with Ori, who he has now fully opened up to. He might even be inclined to say he'll miss her when she's gone.

And everything was going well until Minhyun decided to sit on his lounge chair on the balcony with Ori to enjoy the afternoon sun, as per his usual Saturday routine.

"Minhyun, hey."

Jerking his head around to see his neighbour popping his head out of the sliding door, Minhyun sputters, "Hi. Seongwu," all the while internally groaning at how terrible his luck is.

Seongwu shifts his eyes down to Ori in his arms, and Minhyun already knows what he's thinking of when a look of comprehension and some other emotion he can't place cycles past his face.

"S-she's all better now," explains Minhyun, stroking the top of her head.

"Ah, that's great," he says. Seongwu steps onto his balcony, leaning on the railing, and after a few moments of silence, he adds, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Minhyun looks up at him again, feeling a pang in his heart when he registers the hurt in Seongwu's eyes. "What—"

The sound of a doorbell cuts Minhyun off short.

Turning around into their respective units and then to each other, Minhyun and Seongwu share a look.

"You should get it," says Minhyun, feeling slightly annoyed he got interrupted.

Seongwu nods and disappears into his apartment, and several seconds later, Minhyun's doorbell rings too.

_Probably Daniel coming to pick Ori up_ , thinks Minhyun as he sighs and trudges to his door.

When he opens it, he's pleasantly surprised to see Jihoon instead, wearing the oversized black T-shirt he remembers Daniel said he bought for him a long time ago.

"Hi, Minhyun-hyung," Jihoon chirps, eyes brightening when he sees Ori in his arms, and then he's looking up at Minhyun again. "I see you finally like her now."

Minhyun chuckles, taking a quick glimpse around him. "Where's Daniel? I thought he'd be the one most excited to see her again."

"Ah, Daniel is..." Jihoon sighs. "He rang the wrong doorbell and now he's making friends with your neighbour."

All the blood is drained from Minhyun's face. They hear a loud, boisterous laugh next door, and Minhyun _hates_ how he recognises who it is in an instant.

"You're kidding," Minhyun mutters, under his breath.

Apparently not, because the door bursts open a second after, revealing Daniel and Seongwu laughing about whatever, and who instantly go quiet once they see Minhyun and Jihoon staring at them, eyebrows raised.

Something seems to click in Daniel's mind when he regards Minhyun because his expression grows dark and he begins to stomp up to him.

"Hyung! You didn't tell me Ori got sick, how could you?!"

Minhyun has to resist the urge to pull his hair out at the series of unfortunate events happening to him right now—only because he's still holding Ori and doesn't want to drop her.

"Daniel, I can explain—"

Daniel grabs Ori away from his hold and cradles her in his arms instead. "My poor baby who caught a flu," he coos. He glares at Minhyun. "I _trusted_ you, hyung."

"Wait, a flu? I thought she got vaccinated for all of them."

Everyone whips their head around to Jihoon.

Surprised by all of the eyes on him, Jihoon turns to tug on his boyfriend's shirt sleeve and asks, "Right, Daniel?"

"Yeah," he whispers. "You're right," and now everyone's attention shifts to Minhyun, and that includes Seongwu too.

Minhyun gulps, screaming inside about his damn friends and how capable they are in remembering all the vaccinations their cat got and yet not his unit number, even though they've visited many times before.

"She never got sick," he admits, quietly.

"Then why'd—"

"So you lied?" asks Seongwu, and Minhyun hears the ' _to me?'_ hanging on at the end of his words, even if he doesn't say it out loud.

Minhyun opens his mouth but he can't get anything to come out—not when Seongwu is looking at him like that: like he's just been betrayed by someone he trusted.

Mumbling something about Minhyun and Seongwu having something to sort out between the two of them, Jihoon drags a protesting Daniel with him into Minhyun's apartment, leaving only an uncomfortable quiet behind them as they slam the door shut.

"You know, Minhyun _,_ " Seongwu starts, and Minhyun winces at the way he says his name like it's foreign on his tongue. "If you didn't want to talk to me anymore you could have just _told_ me. I would've respected that."

"That's—" Minhyun closes his eyes, palms a hand across his face. "I never said that."

"But you sure as hell _implied_ it."

"God, Seongwu. It's not that I don't want to talk to you."

"Then what?" Seongwu laughs, bitterly. "You don't even want to _see_ me anymore?"

Minhyun grimaces. He hates this. He doesn't want to hear Seongwu laugh like that—sarcastically and not because he finds him funny. He doesn't want to hear Seongwu say his name like he's never called it out before when it was melodious to his ears every time before this. He doesn't want to see Seongwu look at him icily, with no shine nor glimmer in his eyes.

"No, Seongwu, I _do_ want to see you," Minhyun snaps, "and I _do_ want to talk to you. I really, really do, okay? Just—" He sighs, softening a little when he sees the startle on Seongwu's face. "Just not for the same reason you have, okay?"

"Wait," Seongwu says, raising a hand to stop Minhyun. "What reason are we talking about here?"

"Yours? Or m—"

" _Mine_. Mine. What reason do you think I have?"

Minhyun's brows furrow. "What? Isn't it because you want to see Ori?"

Seongwu stares at him blankly for a good few seconds, and then suddenly he's hunched over, clutching at his stomach, a pained noise coming out of him. Just as Minhyun reaches a hand out to check if he's okay, Seongwu suddenly swings back up, tears in his eyes as he releases a hysterical laugh.

"Minhyun! I'm not a furry!"

"W-what," stumbles Minhyun, very confused as to why Seongwu isn't upset anymore but also beginning to feel very relieved about it at the same time. "What's a f—"

"I can't believe you thought I had a crush on _Ori_! Minhyun, what the hell?" Seongwu continues to laugh, grabbing onto Minhyun's shoulders for purchase.

" _What?_ I never said that!" Minhyun fumes, though somehow he's laughing along too now, the tension and unease in his heart forgotten.

"Okay, well _clearly_ we both need to communicate to each other better," says Seongwu, laugh dying down as he raises his head to look at Minhyun directly in the eyes. "I do _not_ have a crush on Ori."

"Okay," Minhyun smiles, biting his lip. "I never thought that, but okay."

"Who I _do_ have a crush on," Seongwu takes in a deep breath, "is you."

The smile on Minhyun's face disappears instantly. " _Me?_ "

"Yes, Minhyun." Seongwu releases his hold and folds his arms across his chest. "I bought an expensive cup of coffee for _you_ , not the _cat_."

"But you said you wanted to see Ori, not me."

"Because I thought you'd be weirded out! Besides, you're the one who only wanted to go out with me if it was with Ori."

"I never said that." Minhyun grins at him, giddily.

Seongwu rolls his eyes. "There are a lot of things we didn't say, Minhyun. What matters is what we _do_ say."

"Or what we imply and assume," muses Minhyun, "but I'm actually getting kind of sick of that now."

Seongwu blinks, rapidly, as Minhyun takes a step towards him and cups his jaw, resisting the urge to burst out laughing in his face when he sees the telltale bob of Seongwu's Adam's apple.

"Seongwu, I think you will be glad to know I have a crush on you too." He caresses the side of his face softly. "A big, fat, insatiable one."

And then Minhyun leans forward to press the biggest kiss of his life on Seongwu's lips.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"I can't believe you put this picture up at your _photo exhibition_. That thousands of people pay to get into."

"Why?" Seongwu grins at him. "Are you happy about it?"

"More _embarrassed_ than happy," Minhyun groans, covering his face with his hands. "It's the only one with a human in it! Plus it's the biggest one in here!"

Seongwu pries his hands off him, interlacing their fingers together. "What, would it have been better if I put up a picture of Ori instead?"

Rolling his eyes, Minhyun drags him away from the section they're in because the huge photograph of himself was starting to creep him out. "That was years ago, Seongwu. When are you ever going to let it go?"

Seongwu laughs and tugs at Minhyun's arm, pulling him in a tight embrace. "Never. God, that story is priceless. I'll never get sick of telling it over and over again."

"You're the worst," Minhyun mumbles against his shoulder. "I'm beginning to doubt that you even love me."

"Mmm, I love you," Seongwu whispers against the shell of his ear, kissing it softly. "And I'll have you know, that photo of you from our trip to Kyoto is the one I'm most proud of taking, like, ever."

Releasing a sigh, Minhyun closes his eyes and just smiles.

He doesn't even bother to remind Seongwu that he says that after every single one of their trips this time.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> It's my first time writing for o/h! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated (as is kudos and comments) ♡  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/himarisuu)  
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/himarisu)


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